The Daughter I Never Had

A Mrs. Pugh/Grace Fan fiction

I found the mother/daughter relationship between Mrs. Pugh and Grace in Maybe to be very interesting. This is from Mrs. Pugh's perspective. Hope you all enjoy. I own no characters from Annie.. believe me if I did the story would have turned out much differently. Set after the events of the 1982 movie.. which I have only seen bits and pieces of.

Raising three sons I found myself always wanting a daughter. My oldest son is married and has two children of his own both sons. Hopefully one of these days I'll have a granddaughter.

I remember the first day that Grace Farrell came to work for Mr. Warbucks. She looked very businesslike yet somewhat shy and reserved. I wondered what made her so shy so I decided to take her under my wing. She's really quite a wonderful girl. Over the six years she's been working here we've become incredibly close. I found out with in the three weeks of her starting to work here that she lost her parents within six months of each other between her sophomore and junior year in college. Her parents raised her very well. A very smart, savvy and respectable young woman. From that point forward I had an open door policy with her. She could always come to me with any problem that she had no matter what it was.

On one such occasion she admitted to me that she had feelings for Mr. Warbucks. She had never developed any kind of feelings toward a man before and I kind of figured that she had a little crush on him. "Helen, I really want to keep things professional and not let these silly feelings affect my work. They probably don't mean much anyway… especially if they're not reciprocated."

"And just how do you know that he doesn't feel the same way about you?"

"If he does he doesn't have a great way of showing it."

I patted her arm. "Don't worry sweetheart. He'll come around eventually."

Annie's kidnapping certainly escalated things between Oliver and Grace. I could tell that Grace really cared for that child as much as Oliver does. In another late night conversation we had after the kidnapping Grace went into detail about the events of the kidnapping.

"In that moment we were watching her on the bridge we were both so scared Helen. I thought for sure we were going to lose her. I think Oliver felt the same way."

Grace was obviously distraught over this, so distraught it seemed that tears were starting to form in her eyes. I took her into my arms and rubbed her back.

"This child obviously means a great deal to you, doesn't she?"

"Yes, she does. She means a great deal to Oliver too."

"Have you ever considered marrying Oliver?"

Grace pulled out of our embrace and looked at me completely stunned.

"Well I haven't even been totally honest about my feelings for him yet but yes, I honestly think I do want to marry him. Annie and I are already so close to each other. It would be wonderful if I could be her mother."

"Remember what I said the other day. He'll come around eventually, just be patient."

Grace kissed me softly on the cheek. "Don't worry Helen, I will."

I guess you could say patience finally paid off. One day a few weeks ago Mr. Warbucks had a sort of emotional outburst about the incident on the bridge where he almost lost Annie. Grace would later tell me that she consoled him and told him that she loved Annie just as much as he did and understood his feelings about coming so close to losing her. I'm not much for spying on people but I watched them quietly from the doorway of the office and saw Oliver pull Grace close to him on the couch. They sat in silence for a good long while and then Oliver finally spoke.

"Grace, you care for Annie a great deal don't you?"

Grace nodded and whispered "And for you too."

Oliver was shocked to hear this. "Really?"

Grace smiled. "Yes. The truth is Oliver I've loved you for a long time but I was always scared to confess my feelings."

"Why?"

"Mostly because I thought it would look bad for business if you started to date your secretary."

Oliver leaned in and kissed Grace on her cheek.

"This may sound crazy but I love you too."

Grace was quiet for a minute and then I think she noticed I was watching them through the door.

"Can you hang on a second?" she said.

"Certainly."

Grace got up from the couch and joined me in the hallway.

"Helen, you don't need to spy on us. I'll tell you everything later on I promise."

I patted her on the shoulder. "I wasn't meaning to make you uncomfortable sweetheart. I just think this is so exciting."

Grace kissed me on the cheek. "Yes, it is very exciting but as I said I'll tell you about it later."

I smiled as Grace went back into the office and shut the door behind her.

About 40 minutes later there was a knock at my bedroom door.

"Come in Grace." I said.

Grace opened the door all smiles.

"You were so right about being patient Helen! As it turns out Oliver has the same feelings for me."

I patted a spot next to me on the bed and she sat down.

"So do I hear wedding bells?" I asked.

"He hasn't officially proposed yet but I think he probably will soon."

I kissed the top of her head.

"I couldn't be happier for your darling."

Grace snuggled in close to me. This gave me a sense of warmth I was never too familiar with.

"I love you very much Helen."

I rubbed her back, happy with the closeness between us. She was like the daughter I never had.

She kissed my cheek, waiting for my response.

I kissed her on the forehead. "I love you too Grace."

Oliver proposed to Grace a few days later and they decided to waste no time planning their wedding. With Annie's adoption being finalized Oliver knew that he wanted Grace to be his wife and Annie's mother. I could tell that Grace was overjoyed and I was very happy for her.

On the day of the wedding I went into her room as she was getting ready. She seemed lost in thought. It didn't take me too long to notice that she had tears in her eyes.

"Sweetheart, you should be happy on a day like today. Why so glum?"

I immediately wish I could take back the question for I already knew the answer.

Grace looked embarrassed for crying but she didn't speak.

"Missing your mother?" I whispered.

Grace simply nodded her head.

I took her hand and pulled her to her feet.

"Come darling, let's sit on the bed."

Grace's soft crying turned into gut wrenching sobs.

I would never expect to pull a 31 year old woman into my lap but I think the inner child in her was starting to come out… a child who misses her mother terribly and needed comfort.

Grace's arms wrapped around my neck and she buried her face into my stomach.

"I just really wish my mother was here Helen. I know she would love seeing me so happy."

I rub my hand up and down her back. "Both your parents would be proud of you I would expect."

"They would adore Annie too."

I smiled at her. "I have no doubt in my mind that they absolutely would."

Grace just sat there in the safety of my arms for twenty minutes crying. I rocked her back and forth rubbing her back and stroking her hair all the while.

I pulled a handkerchief from my apron pocket and dabbed at her eyes.

"Gracie Liz?" I said calling her by the short versions both of her first and middle name which had become my pet name for her.

She looked up at me, not saying anything.

I took her hand in mine. "I know I can't replace your mother and I'm not trying to but if you'll let me I would like to help you get ready for the wedding."

Grace slid out of my lap and next to me on the bed and put her arm around me.

"I'd like that very much." she whispered.

"Then come my dear, let's dry those tears and begin. We only have 20 minutes to make you look stunning you know."

Grace kissed my cheek. "I love you Helen."

I looked at her lovingly. Wiping the stray hairs from her forehead and the last specks of tears from her eyes, I laid a light kiss on her forehead.

"I love you too Grace, more than you will ever know."